A Houston court has stopped the scheduled February execution of child killer Britt Ripkowski, saying that he suffers from bipolar disorder and is incompetent to be put to death.

Ripkowski, 41, was set to die Feb. 20 for the 1997 Christmas Eve murder of 2-year-old Dominique Frome, whose body was stuffed into a suitcase and buried near Sheldon Reservoir in northeast Harris County.

Ripkowski also was charged with the murder of the child's mother, Monica Allen, whose body was found in a Utah desert.

Ripkowski, a California native, admitted the killings and assisted authorities in finding the child's grave. Authorities determined that Ripkowski murdered Allen, his former lover, then abducted the child, driving her to his Houston apartment, where he killed her.

The condemned man's attorney, Texas Southern University law professor Anthony Haughton, said his client had suffered from bipolar disorder since age 16. Harris County Assistant District Attorney Lynn Hardaway said the killer recently was examined by prosecution and defense mental health experts to determine his competence for execution.

Ripkowski's hearing was held earlier this week in 248th state District Court after Haughton sought to have him declared incompetent.

Hardaway said the killer again can be set for execution if his mental condition stabilizes.

In August 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected an incompetency claim from Ripkowski, noting that the killer had participated in his trial defense and that it was unclear at what point a mental health expert hired by Ripkowski's attorney had determined the man was psychotic.